IPO-Bound Fintech Giant Pine Labs Bags $20 Mn From SBI

IPO-bound Pine Labs has raised $20 Mn in a fresh round of investment from the country’s largest commercial bank SBI. The fresh round seems to be a part of Pine Labs’ pre-IPO round. 

In a statement, Pine Labs said that it is now looking at infusing the fresh capital for the development of its newly launched online payment product – Plural.

Commenting on the development, B Amrish Rau, CEO of Pine Labs said, “In the last one year, several marquee investors have placed their trust in our business model and growth momentum and that is a gratifying feeling. This association with SBI is a personally satisfying experience as I had started my career selling financial services technology to SBI.”

The fintech giant in 2021 raised a total of $700 Mn in funding in two tranches. In July, it raised $600 Mn from its new investors Fidelity Management & Research Company, BlackRock, Ishana, and Tree Line among others. In the month of September, Pine Labs raised $100 Mn US-based investment management company Invesco at a valuation of $6 Bn. 

Founded in 1998 by Lokvir Kapoor, Pine Labs entered the celebrated unicorn club in 2020 after closing a deal with US multinational financial services corporation MasterCard. 

Pine Labs empowers large and mid-sized businesses in Asia and Middle East to accept digital payments. The startup offers merchant commerce solutions including enterprise automation systems such as customer relationship and inventory management. 

It claims its cloud-based platform helps 140,000 merchants, 3.5 lakh PoS (point of sale) terminals across 3,700 cities and towns in India and Malaysia. More than 15 major banks, seven financial institutions and more than 100 brands are a part of Pine Lab’s platform that processes payments worth $30 Bn every year.

The startup counts Sequoia India, Actis Capital, Temasek, PayPal, among others as its investors.

In April 2021, the startup acquired Fave, a consumer fintech platform that provides a smart payment app to the smart generation of consumers looking to pay and save.

As per media reports, Pine Labs is eyeing for an $1 Bn public listing and is likely to get itself listed on the US-based NASDAQ stock exchange this year. It has already hired Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs as advisors for its listing. Pine Labs joins the lists of Indian startups including BYJU’s, PayMate, Ola, Snapdeal, Delhivery, among others who will be going public this year.

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